


Reasons New York Loves Spider-Man

by the_yeet_to_your_yoink



Category: Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Gun Violence, Like Subscribe and smash that kudos button guys gals and non-binary pals, Like really really mild gun violence, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, This is not what I expected my brain to shit out but there ya go, Very Few Mentions of Blood, survivor's guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-10-27 01:05:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17756873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_yeet_to_your_yoink/pseuds/the_yeet_to_your_yoink
Summary: One reason New York loves Spider-Man is because he stays even after the action is over.OROne civilian recounts her encounters with New York's friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.





	1. He Stays

**Author's Note:**

> Spider-Man stays with an injured civilian until emergency services arrive.

She hadn’t felt it. The bullet that entered her body. The way she collapsed. It was her first time being shot (and hopefully her last). With nowhere to go and certainly nothing to do, she laid there, puzzled.

Maybe she was paralysed?

She wiggled her toes and flexed her hand a bit. Nope, that’s not it. She could even feel her uncomfortably tight toe ring. _I really should have bought a bigger size._  
  
Other than the uncomfortable burning sensation in her hip, she felt fine. _Well, don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, I suppose._

However, as the discomfort grew, she tried directing her attention elsewhere. She’s great at being easily distracted and this could be one of the only times that particular skill will come in handy.

She’s a glass-half-full type of girl.

She had been shot near her desk, at least. She noticed her jacket was draped over her desk chair. Don’t people say to put pressure on the wound or something? Maybe she could use that.

She frowned suddenly.

_That’s my favourite jacket._

She shook her head lightly. It literally did not matter. She forced herself to accept the truth that one bloodstained jacket was worth evading death. However, now there was the dilemma of obtaining the jacket. In her hands. Physically. With movement.  
  
It was too far to reach, and she cursed at herself for going to fill up her water bottle just before the gun-men burst in. She could tell by the pallor of her dark skin that there was no covering that distance. She had already concluded that if her brown skin looked pale, that meant moving wasn’t the best idea for reducing blood-loss.  
  
She’s sure her last brain cell is leaping with joy at her problem solving skills.  
  
Having accomplished absolutely nothing to improve her current situation, and the discomfort steadily increasing, she finally focused on the sounds of Spider-Man fighting her attackers.

 _Spider-Man is in the same room as me and I’m thinking about my jacket._ She chides herself for her priorities but then decides that though Spider-Man is up there on the list of her Important Things to Ponder in a Near-Death Experience, he is second only to: 1. Not Dying.  
  
From what she could hear, he had quickly dispatched the two attackers (the one who shot her and the one without a gun) soon after she’d been hit. That too, without pulling his punches nearly as much as he was before, she noted curiously. She thought she heard something crack as he punched them. She would rather attribute her conclusion to her “good hearing” rather than the gut-clenching screams they let out after the fact.  
  
She felt herself weaving in and out of consciousness as her eyes opened and closed sporadically. Her breathing was uneven and she could feel her arrhythmic pulse in her throat. Maybe this is it. _At least I’ll die in the same room as Spider-Man._  
  
Just as the magnitude of the stupidity of that thought hit her, her train of thought screeched to a grinding halt when she heard the commotion stop. Suddenly gentle hands were shifting her head and that’s how she found herself shot, bleeding profusely and looking up at Spider-Man, with what is probably the dumbest look on her face.  
  
Not the best first impression she’s made, she’ll admit.  
  
“Hey, Spider-Man,” she whispered, her voice quiet from awe rather than pain.  
  
“Hey. You need to stay awake, Miss.” He matched her volume, quiet, as he ripped some cloth off her jacket _(damn it, say what you want but that was an expensive jacket)_   and used it to apply pressure to the wound above her right hip. She yelped as he applied just enough pressure to cause discomfort. It distracted her from how young his voice sounds.  
  
“Sorry!” And if she wasn’t currently preoccupied with the hole in her hip, she would’ve been thoroughly amused by how the mask’s eyes widened, probably imitating his own.  
  
There’s a beat of silence before she remembered that conversations require responses from the second party.  
  
“Nari, and it’s okay.”  
  
“Pardon?”

 _He's polite._  And she suddenly felt inexplicably protective of him, despite being the injured one in this interaction.  
  
“My name. And I forgive you for staunching the flow of blood currently pouring out of my body.” she inhaled sharply after forcing that whole sentence out in one breath, wincing as she pulled at her injury, further darkening what was part of her favourite jacket.  
  
Was the wound really that bad? She hadn’t even felt much till now.  
  
Then she jolted awake, as a morbid dread settled in the pit of her stomach and the lump in her throat made her breath hitch. Were her friends okay? Hopefully they got out of the office. She was the first one to get shot so she didn’t know who she’d need to grieve.  
  
“Am I the only one?” She asked. She held her breath as he stilled for a few seconds. He didn’t even look around before he answered her. _Could he hear them?_  
  
“There's one more, but he didn't make it.” His tone conveyed his regret. She had a feeling he didn't take these things lightly.  
  
“I'm sorry.” She said under her breath. He lets out a soft sigh, as though he hadn’t meant for the sound to come out. His mood became  
sombre and she didn’t like it so she did what she did best. She started talking.  
  
Well, she was probably annoying him, but we can’t all have social skills.  
  
In the millisecond before she began operation Talk Spidey Into a Happy Mood, different things she could say bounced around in her head.  
  
Thank him? Make a joke? Say something cool?  
  
“You ripped my jacket.” She shuts up immediately.  
  
Of course.  
  
'Chastise the guy who is currently saving your life' is not on her List of Things to Say to People Who Are Trying to Save You, but she blamed not remembering that particular list on the bullet wound instead of her inability to form a proper, significant sentence in front of  _the_ Spider-Man.  
  
“Uh… sorry? I can buy you a new one.” Nari wanted to tell him that she was very sure he would not be replacing her jacket because he's _Spider-Man_ and she's some random lady, but she supposed damage control was a better path to take.  
  
“Sorry, I just-“  
  
“Don’t be. I let you get shot. I shouldn’t have webbed his hand, I should’ve-“  
  
She could sense the downward spiral before it started. And consequently, she felt a sense of misplaced indignation. This is _not_ his fault. She got shot because _she_ froze. Because _she_ responded to a life-or-death situation with ‘maybe if I don’t move, the armed man with two functioning eyes won’t see me’. She had to give him a piece of her mind before she knocked out again.  
  
“Whoa there, cowboy! Stop, wait a minute. You ’let’ me get shot?” She asked slowly, using the same tone she has when helping her less-than-bright cousin with his math homework, and he says something particularly stupid.  
  
“Yeah, of course it did. I was there, I have all these abilities and I still couldn’t stop you from getting hurt. That’s on me.” He sighed heavily.  
  
It sounded like he was carrying the world on his shoulders. Does he realise that not everything is his fault? She’s filled with the urgency to say something before she passes out again.  
  
Once again, she should’ve said something reassuring but instead what leaves her traitorous mouth is:  
  
“You don’t get to take responsibility for my idiocy. If I had moved then I wouldn’t have gotten shot. So take that, Spider-Man.” Feeling victorious, she shifted uncomfortably, jostling the wound and felt herself fading out of consciousness.  
  
Maybe blaming herself for getting shot wasn’t the best way to convince Spider-Man that he was okay in her books, but hey, you win some you lose some.  
  
She took his silence as acceptance of her assertion and just as she heard sirens in the distance, she promptly lost what little consciousness she had left.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she sits on a hospital bed a week later, almost ready to be discharged and relatively unscathed, she thanks Spider-Man with all that she has and hopes that he feels her gratitude. The nurses tell her that Spidey had stayed with her until the paramedics arrived and followed them to the hospital. She sees the folded article of clothing sitting on her bedside table and her face hurts from how wide she's smiling.

The nurses also tell her that he had asked them to tell her that he's still sorry about the jacket. Her heart warms and she hardens her resolve.   
  
Nari promises herself that if she ever sees Spidey again, she will not hesitate to drop kick the misplaced guilt right out of his body.

 

 

 


	2. He Reciprocates Hugs From Semi-Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THWIP
> 
> Nari yelled, jumping in fright as a sticky white web latched on to her wrist and she's pulled away from her door.
> 
> "That's a weird way to enter your house."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but I got a little nervous figuring out where to take this story. I decided to delve into Nari more because I'd rather develop one character than think up new characters each chapter as my last braincell couldn't take that sort of strain.  
> I hope you can enjoy this story's new direction! Also Peter is about the same age as Nari! which is 21ish :)  
> Nari was a lowly intern where she worked which is why she's at a workplace and not uni, and Peter is smart cookie so he's studying in university which is why he can thwip around at random times of the day.

Now, Nari considered herself a pretty level-headed person. She could tolerate anyone so long as they didn't physically get in her way. The streets of Queens made you tough like that.

Nonetheless, she must've invoked the spite of some higher power, because she had the most intolerable, insufferable, annoying roommate to ever exist.

She hadn't started considering murder a plausible solution to her problems until she met Julia.

Damn the rent for being so affordable.

On a happier note, Nari was deemed fit to drive. There was no one she could call to get her car for her, so she made her way back to her workplace. She kept her eyes down as she approached the building, wanting to see as little as possible.

She drove home whilst fantasising about all the different ways she could punch Julia in her perfect face to distract herself from the aching pain in her side and the dread that lingered from going near that building. 

The doctor told her she had to go to therapy. But Nari was skeptical. She didn't want therapy. She didn't want to relive seeing all her colleagues being gunned down in front of-

No. She was not going there. 

She finally reached home in the early morning, only three hours left till sunrise. 

Somehow, she parallel parked successfully, despite how much turning the steering wheel back and forth hurt her side.

As Nari turned the car off, she contemplated Julia again. 

Julia was a light sleeper, and had specifically told Nari to "come back before 10:30pm every night or else I won't open the door for you", which was a stupid threat because she has her own set of keys.

Also, who in their mid-twenties has their life together enough to be in bed before midnight? 

It was just her luck that she had forgotten her house keys at work the day she was injured.

Sighing in defeat, she exited the car and stood back to admire her work. She _may_ forget to indicate most times and _maybe_ she's almost run over two or three cyclists, _perhaps_ even a handful of pedestrians, but _damn,_  she was good at parallel parking.

She gave a curt nod of approval, and slowly trudged her way to the door, preparing to exercise what little self-restraint she had left.

Nari could see Julia moving sleepily around through a gap in the closed curtain and quelled the urge to throw a well-aimed rock through the window.

She rapped her knuckles on the door and waited.

Julia didn't even pretend to be asleep.

"Julia?" Nari attempted. She heard the shuffling inside stop for a moment, before it continued.

Ignored. Of course.

"That's very funny, _roomie._ I get it, you're mad I stayed out past curfew but I forgot my keys. You're not really going to make me sleep in my car after coming back from the hospital, are you?" Nari asked, worriedly joking.

Silence.

She needed to go about this a different way...

It's not breaking and entering if it's you live there, right?

She contemplated it, but once she felt the paranoia of being outside, injured and alone creeping in, she made up her mind.

She's seen enough crime shows to hazard an attempt. She ran a hand through her hair (she really needed a proper shower), found a pin in the mess, and got to work.

Five minutes in and she was considering searching for a tutorial on how to break into a house.

_THWIP._

Nari yelled, jumping in fright as a sticky white web latched onto her wrist and she's pulled away from her door.

"That's a weird way to enter your house."

_Spidey!_

Nari blamed the adrenaline and the pain from how hard he yanked her wrist for her lack of decorum.

"This is my house, dumbass!"

She rubbed her wrist, trying to pull the unsurprisingly stubborn web off her wrist. As she struggled, she noticed his mask-eyes widen in what she hoped was recognition.

"Nari?" He exclaimed.

"Spider-Man?" She mocked, still picking at the web attached to her wrist. The adrenaline was wearing off leaving her with only the amplified pain in her side and now, her wrist. She's also pretty shocked that he remembered her name after a whole fortnight.

He seemed to finally notice how she was rubbing her wrist and instantly his shock morphed into a regretful panic.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't recognise you and I try to control how much strength I use but sometimes I can't really gauge -"

She sternly put up a hand and to her amusement, he stopped talking immediately, looking sheepish. Well, she's guessing he looked sheepish. It was hard to guess his emotions when she can't see his face.

But he was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, so she let him sit in the silence, her hand pinching the bridge of her nose as she let out a quiet sigh.

She was feeling vindictive and he was the last person to deserve her bitchiness. But bullet wounds and shitty roommates do that to your mood.

It's Julia's fault that she was kind of a bitch to Spider-Man  _after_ he saved her life, she rationalised.

She suddenly remembered her colleague talking about a similar incident.

So instead of apologising, she says, "Is this a common thing with you?"

"Uh- I- Pardon?" Still polite. Damn it, now she felt even worse.

"My," she hesitates, "...friend said you webbed him to his car because you thought he was trying to steal it."

She had overheard a colleague of hers talk about it from her desk. She had also watched as the life left his eyes.

"Oh." He was blank for a moment.

Then, " _Oh._ Yes. Um, please tell him I said sorry as well."

Her throat closed, eyes burning with unshed tears.

Tamping the water-works down, she sighed. Spider-Man has been here for hardly a minute and she felt like she's done nothing but attack him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even thank you for staying with me even though I ruined your suit with my blood."

He paused, the sudden change in tone seemed to give him whiplash.

"That's okay, it's seen way weirder substances."

"This is a prime opportunity for an innuendo, but you saved my life so I'll let this one slide."

Chuckling, he shrugged. 

"It's New York. There's a lot of weird stuff in this city."

"Touché." 

"How's your hip?" He inquired.

The question was innocent but still, her breath caught in her throat. She remembered the horror of seeing her colleagues' bodies littered around her as she lay there, alive, watching it all. She should've done more... It was even worse to think that she was the only one to survive. What did she do to deserve that? She lives alone, literally and figuratively. She hasn't had close friends since high school, so no one would have missed her. Her colleagues on the other hand, had friends, families, people who depended -

"...Are you okay, Nari?" His voice cut sharply through her thoughts and she came back to herself.

"Yes." Her voice was hard.

She was not going to  _talk it out_ with Spider-Man.

The awkward silence after her stilted response reminded her why she had no friends outside of work.

She didn't want to come off as rude, but there was no other way to avoid this conversation without an inelegant segue into another topic.

"Could you please open my door?" She whispered, exhaustion lacing her tone.

"Uh, is that legal?" He had the audacity to ask, when she was clearly having a self-pitying moment.

Nari scoffed, "I don't know, is moon-lighting as a spider-based vigilante in Stark Tech worth three thousand times my student loans _legal?"_

"Touché." He countered, his hands raised in surrender as he sauntered to her door.

He rubbed his hands together like a magician before a trick, turned the knob until the lock broke and stepped away.

"Fix the lock, this isn't exactly the safest block in Queens."

She smiled softly. At least one person cared whether she was okay.

She blinked away the tears she felt coming because she was a strong, independent woman and she will _not_ cry in front of Spider-Man  just because he's the first person who's given a shit about her in a long time.

He took her silence as the cue to leave, but her sleep deprived brain got caught up in the moment.

So she took a big stride forward and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. He was super-human, he could take it.

He hesitated, unsure of what to do. Finally, he wrapped them around her shoulders.

He was warm and solid and the reason she was standing here making a fool of herself. The reason she still has a future she probably doesn't deserve.

He must have felt a tear soak his chest because he said something that made it a lot harder to not break.

"I'm sorry. I should've been better."

She recognised that he was trying to make her feel better but given it's a stupid-ass sentiment, she elected to ignore it.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He squeezed her shoulders warmly, then let go.

They stepped apart, almost uncomfortably distant, and just looked at each other. 

 _Surprisingly,_ Nari thought,  _he's pretty good at gazing._

"Spidey?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Hmm?" 

"Go?"

"Oh! Yes. Right," he stuck his thumb over his shoulder, "I'll just -"

"Yeah."

He hesitates, then, "Take care, Nari." He gave her what seemed to be a hard stare before shooting a web, yanking himself into the streets of New York.

And as she watched him disappear into New York's skyline, she exhaled the breath she'd held since she was lying bleeding on her office floor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha... so yeah, that's what my brain shat out at the ass crack of dawn :) 
> 
>  
> 
> Please let me know what you think, I will 100% reply to you!
> 
> Stay safe, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Please, write a comment, Talk to me. I want to hear what you have to say, even if it's just to say "NICE" or point out a spelling error! I welcome constructive criticism, and please tell if there are any issues with the tags :) I am new to this. Thanks so much for reading <3


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